Tasmanian Devil

Growing up watching Looney Tunes did not do the Tasmanian Devil the justice it deserves. Being the size of a small dog, they’re actually sort of cute little Austrialian pups. …see for yourself. 😛

The name for these guys may be a little deceiving, as scientists have found. They mainly live in the state of Tasmania and are extinct in their original homeland of Australia. Hunters were killing dingoes for their pelts and when they ran out of dingoes they turned to the next best thing. The claim was that they were a massive threat to livestock and so they needed to be dealt with accordingly. Some 50 years later researchers are finding that they, along with many humans, are victims of facial and skin tumors and cancers. As a result, many are being sent to zoos in order to help provide better care for them.

While they do rip and shread their prey, they are somewhat communal animals. Once mated they protect and fight for their female at all costs…and we all know how that goes! 😉

All in all, just some food for thought. I’m sure those farmers and hunters didn’t dream that what they were doing to a group of animals in the mid 1940’s would impact them so many years later. Unfortunately, it is still happening today with many other groups of animals for a variety of reasons. You’d like we’d have learned something by now.